Last month, the "good player" admitted he may be doing something wrong. Once a player gets past cursing the dice and their forebears, and starts to explore what he or she might change and correct, a cure becomes possible.

Kit Woolsey's famous backgammon identity axiom, "The five point is the five point", has stood the test of time despite all efforts to prove that the five point is something else. This month's problems will all involve choosing between making the five point and at least one strong and plausible alternative.

Sometimes we have a huge advantage in a game, but there remains a bit of contact that could cause us to stumble at the finish line instead of breezing home to victory. Today's problems represent some typical cases.

It's Hallowe'en time, and backgammon can get downright scary. The lurking dangers include cube errors, overindulgence in sugary trick-or-treats, and maybe even a ring-tailed rodent or two. Don't say you weren't warned!

In finance it can be bad to be "greedy for gain". Even a greedy person who plays by the rules risks coming out on the losing end if they don't know when to stop. Who hasn't heard that Wall Street canard, "Bulls and bears can make money, but pigs can't"? In backgammon too, the bulls and bears both have their time, sometimes each within the same game.

Today's Principle: The most basic cause of Play-Down appears to be mental multi-tasking caused by counterproductive chatter. The antidote is respect for the dice and if possible, the opponent, combined with awareness and avoidance of the pitfalls of Play-Down thinking.

Mary's cast of chouette players encounter three problems where even after the correct move, the player's equity will be negative. This can lead to over-aggressive play in an effort to remedy this perceived injustice as speedily as possible.

None of the rest of you have been getting as much backgammon action as you'd like, because the former host of your chouette has been away on business for over a year now. But now he has returned, and has sent you all an e-mail telling you he can't wait to start playing backgammon again!

A stranded back anchor isn't the end of the world! Don't panic and run from it too soon, and stand your ground if doubled if you have both race and shot chances, even if neither alone is sufficient to justify a take.

If your money session error rate against weak opponents is a consistently high world class level, you aren't maximizing your equity! Observe your opponents carefully, and adapt your game to what you see.

When you are the weakest player in a chouette, your equity can actually be the best of anyone's! Your opportunities rise in direct proportion to the size of your opponents' fears, misjudgements, and egos.

The city becomes a maze of one-ways, dead ends, nameless alleys, and no-parking zones as you search for the corner they mentioned. You find 17th street, but Yolanda isn't a familiar name, and you somehow miss it twice as...

If the odds favour playing boldly and risking an instant loss, will you have the courage to do it? When the odds favour waiting, will you be able to see the difference and not rush in where it's best not to go?

Today we'll discuss matters of substance versus matters of style - whether you should expend some of your political capital to try to convince the Captain to make your play, or just let it go and save your argument for something more important.

In the following four quiz problems, you're playing in a private chouette at the home of Cornelius V. D.B. Magnuson, the wealthy castoff son of that notorious robber baron of the Ohio steel industry, Ramses Grendel Magnuson II.

Steamers enjoy the game more than anyone. For them the thrill of winning really does exceed the pain of losing, often by a substantial margin, though they do experience both the ecstasy and the agony far more intensely than other players.

If the late radical community organizer/activist Saul Alinsky had played backgammon, he would have got this cube action right. He said that power is what the enemy thinks you have, urging one go outside the experience of the enemy.

Now we'll begin to explore our options for doubling from the Box when the game's going our way. In this article, we'll deal with technical endgames situations where the answer's the same no matter who you're playing with.

For most of us, the Nightmare of the 15th Checker is a rerun of a documentary. Grab some popcorn and watch in horrified fascination as cruel fate reduces a sure backgammon win to a rapidly shrinking gammon chance.